Month: May 2016

Community mourns slain detective at candlelight vigil

In a community candlelight vigil tonight, Detective Brad D. Lancaster was remembered as a son, brother, uncle, husband and law enforcement officer.

The Kansas City, Kan., City Hall plaza was filled with a large turnout of people, including many law enforcement officers, in support of Detective Lancaster’s widow and family. Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, who earlier today issued a statement of support for the detective’s family, attended the candlelight vigil.

With prayers, songs, speeches, a candlelighting and condolences expressed to the family, the vigil helped ease the sorrow of the community. Members of Detective Lancaster’s family lit candles and then brought the lights to the rest of the gathering.

Showing support for Detective Lancaster’s family was on the minds of many people who were attending.

Police Chief Terry Zeigler said while the next few days will be very difficult for the community and city, there has been a community and nationwide outpouring of support for the detective’s family.

“As we go through we’re going to have to lean on each other and get through the next several days,” Chief Ziegler said. “We’re all hurting.

“As we go through it, lean on each other, support one another, love one another and keep Brad’s family in your thoughts and prayers,” Chief Ziegler said.

“Those who introduced me to Brad told me of his playing with baby Caden just a short time just before he was shot yesterday, mentioned that he liked to visit the candy bowl in the transcriber’s office, and related that he was a jokester and an upbeat person,” Sister Therese Bangert said. “Explained also that he put himself in harm’s way yesterday because he spontaneously decided to assist a call for help from his police brothers.”

“Even suffering, pain, doubts and fears cannot extinguish God’s light,” she said.

The Rev. Mary Bolan, minister of Weston (Mo.) Christian Church, where Detective Lancaster grew up, provided selected gospel readings about the good shepherd and eternal life.

Officer Dustin Dierenfeldt sang “Amazing Grace” during the candlelight vigil.

Mayor Pro Tem Hal Walker said it was clear through Detective Lancaster’s life what great service Detective Lancaster gave to this community.

Walker said he hoped in 1998 that it would be the last time he would see a death of a police officer.

“Knowing that we ask them to go out every day in what really is in harm’s way makes it very difficult for me personally and for my fellow commissioners to accept that this is a necessary request that we make of them,” Walker said. “We hope that we prepare them and do everything necessary to put them in the best possible position.”

“When you look out and see how well the community has turned out tonight, it speaks volumes, not only about Detective Lancaster, but about the people we are,” Walker said. “We will miss Detective Lancaster, we will never get over the loss of him under such senseless circumstances, and I hope that his wife, his mother, his children, his family, his friends can take comfort in knowing these people are here because they cared about the loss, and they loved him. He inspired people to be better. “

Walker said Mayor Mark Holland will be speaking at the funeral service.

The other Unified Government commissioners were also in attendance and all were showing support for the detective’s family.

UG Commissioner Ann Murguia said, “This is a very harsh reminder of the level of sacrifice our public safety officers make for our community.”

“I’m so glad to see the turnout today,” UG Commissioner Angela Markley said. It’s important to remember that Detective Lancaster’s children and family will need the community’s support not just this week, but also for the long haul, she added. “They’ve suffered a long-term loss.”

Visitation for Detective Lancaster will be Friday, May 13, and the funeral will be Saturday, May 14.

The visitation will be held from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, May 13, at Trinity Community Church, 5010 Parallel Parkway, Kansas City, Kan.

The funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 14, at Children’s Mercy Park, a soccer stadium where Sporting KC plays at 1 Sporting Way, Kansas City, Kan. (near I-70 and I-435 intersection). Parking will be available at Kansas Speedway.

Ceremonial honors will follow the funeral service.

A memorial fund for Detective Lancaster’s family has been established at Greater KC Public Safety Credit Union locations and at KCK Police headquarters.

Police Chief Terry Zeigler, left, urged family and friends of Detective Lancaster to lean on each other and support each other in the coming days. To the right was the Rev. Mike May. (Staff photo)
Police Chief Terry Zeigler, left, urged family and friends of Detective Lancaster to lean on each other and support each other in the coming days. To the right was the Rev. Mike May. (Staff photo)

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt and Wyandotte County District Attorney Jerome Gorman, on the far right, talked before the candlelight event started. State Sen. David Haley, on the left, also was in attendance. Flags flew at half-staff. (Staff photo)
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt and Wyandotte County District Attorney Jerome Gorman, on the far right, talked before the candlelight event started. State Sen. David Haley, on the left, also was in attendance. Flags flew at half-staff. (Staff photo)

Officer Dustin Dierenfeldt, center, sang "Amazing Grace" during the candlelight vigil. (Staff photo)
Officer Dustin Dierenfeldt, center, sang “Amazing Grace” during the candlelight vigil. (Staff photo)

Funeral arrangements announced for slain detective

Funeral arrangements have been announced for Detective Brad D. Lancaster.

According to a Kansas City, Kan., police spokesman, visitation will be Friday, May 13, and the funeral will be Saturday, May 14.

The visitation will be held from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, May 13, at Trinity Community Church, 5010 Parallel Parkway, Kansas City, Kan.

The funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 14, at Children’s Mercy Park, a soccer stadium where Sporting KC plays at 1 Sporting Way, Kansas City, Kan. (near I-70 and I-435 intersection). Parking will be available at Kansas Speedway.

Ceremonial honors will follow the funeral service.

KCKCC’s Al Hobson into NJCAA Track and Field Hall of Fame

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Having rubbed shoulders with some of the greatest athletes in the world, Al Hobson now takes his place among the elite as the newest member of the NJCAA Track and Field Hall of Fame.

“It’s always good to be recognized as one of the best by your peers,” said Hobson, 75, who has upwards of 40 years working with young people, the last 20 years as head track coach at Kansas City Kansas Community College.

During those 20 years, Hobson has trained and coached a literal “Who’s Who” of track and field athletes including the world’s fastest man at the turn of the century. A graduate of Schlagle High School and a student at KCKCC although he did not run competitively for the College, Maurice Greene ran a world record 9.79 in 1999 and then won the 100 and 200-meter dashes in the 2000 Summer Olympics, two of his four Olympic medals.

That elite list also includes Olympians Justin Gatlin, Passion Richardson, Muna Lee, Ray Edwards, Tyrone Edgar, Dinsdale Morgan, Sherridan Kirk and Fina Ashby; NJCAA national champions Ernest Greene, Jason Thompson, Mark Jelks, Jerome Foster and Chris Wright; and a host of regional champions.

Because of that success, both the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals have reached out to Hobson to not only better their running skills but to prevent injuries. That list includes Pro Football Hall of Famer Derrick Thomas, Kevin Ross, Derick Johnson, J.C. Pearson, Reggie Jones and several other Chiefs and more recently, Lorenzo Cain of the Royals.

But it’s his work with developing youngsters at an early age that Hobson is most proud. “All the kids I coached, politicians, doctors, I’m just as proud or more proud of them as the Olympic champions,” he said. “When I was in the Marine Corps, I had a Master Sergeant who was determined I was not going to mess up my life and he turned my life around. One of the reasons I started working with young people was that Marine sergeant and I felt a certain obligation to do the same thing. I just think we’re all put here for a purpose, we just have different reasons.”

Hobson began working with youngsters when his daughter, Adrea, qualified for a national event at the age of 11.

“The coach then decided he was going to make going to the nationals a family event so there was not room for my daughter,” Hobson said. “She was crushed and I was determined I was not going to let that happen again.”

Although the son of an outstanding runner who passed away when he was 10, Hobson did not run as a youngster but played football and basketball and was an outstanding swimmer at segregated Sumner High School.

“Everyone assumed I’d be a runner but the pressure kept me away,” he said. “I refused to run and even had to explain it to the principal.”

However, when his daughter started to excel, Hobson began attending seminars and clinics. “I learned as much as I could.” That was in 1979 and over the next dozen or more years, promising young track athletes gravitated to Hobson, who founded the Kansas City Chargers team that achieved national success.

“For five years in a row, we had a different kid win the 100 meters each year – Duane Pighee, Raydale Hill, Wendell Gaskin, Tim Hardin and Maurice Greene,” Hobson said. “Another year we took just eight kids and we took first and second in the 4×100 relay and also won the 4×400.”

Maurice Greene began running for Hobson at age 11. At age 19, he burst into the national spotlight by beating Olympic world champion Carl Lewis in the 100 meters in 9.86 at the Texas Relays, an upset at which time Lewis famously said:

“Who is this guy?” What Lewis didn’t know was that Greene had been gunning for him. “When Maurice was in high school, he always said he could beat him,” Hobson said. “He put everything into it that day and was totally dehydrated and vomiting afterwards. Maurice first of all was gifted with ability but he also ran with a lot of determination and he always believed in himself.”

Ironically, none of this would have happened had not Hobson made major changes in his life as he readily admits in his well-written book, “The North End (As Quiet as It’s Kept).”

“I was a singer and started singing with a club,” Hobson said. However, it escalated beyond singing to ‘Al Hobson’s Gang,’ a gang that wasn’t adverse to taking on other gangs in street fights.

“The one thing I got blamed for I wasn’t even there,” Hobson said. “But I was going in the wrong direction.” On his 17th birthday July 22, 1957, Hobson left the gang and Sumner High and became the youngest member of the U.S. Marines and his life was changed forever. While in the Marines, he won the 3-meter diving championship at Camp Pendleton. After three years, he enrolled at Central Missouri on the GI Bill before beginning a 30-year career at General Motors, first as a material controller and then as a senior buyer. “GM was very good to me allowing me time off to travel around the country taking kids to track events.”

Retired from GM April 1, 1992, Hobson first came to KCKCC that fall as an assistant coach to Tom Lester. After one year, he worked as an assistant at Park University before returning to KCKCC as head coach in 1996. While KCKCC no longer offers track and field as a competitive sport, Hobson continues to work with local and area high school coaches and with police and fire departments on how to run correctly to help prevent injuries.